Several conservation groups have joined together to file a lawsuit that claims the Trump Administration has failed to protect humpback whales from fishing gear, ship strikes and oil spills.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Wishtoyo Foundation announced Thursday they have sued the Trump Administration for “failing to protect humpback whale habitat in the Pacific Ocean.” The lawsuit was filed in the federal district court in San Francisco.

The nonprofit groups hope the lawsuit will force the National Marine Fisheries Service to follow the Endangered Species Act’s requirement to designate critical habitat within one year of listing a species as threatened or endangered, and not authorize actions that would damage that habitat, according to a release.

Two Pacific Ocean humpback populations were listed as endangered and a third as threatened in September 2016.

Most of those – 54 cases – were humpback whales, according to the report.

While entanglements can greatly deteriorate a whale’s heath, the animals sometimes can remain entangled in gear for long periods of time and still be capable of traveling great distances.

Many of the entanglements in 2016, 22 reports, were caused by Dungeness crab commercial trap fisheries when compared to 2015, which had 11 of these type of entanglements.

According to the news release sent out Thursday, there are an estimated 400 humpback whales that feed off of California’s coast.

Ship strikes and oil spills are the other major threats to West Coast humpback whales, the release reads, citing a study that showed 22 humpback whales off California, Oregon and Washington die each year after being hit by ships.

Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.